<p>Hi! I’m a senior at Andover right now and I came as a new Upper last year, so I think I can help to answer your questions.</p>
<p>In terms of the social scene, I guess it’s important to mention that there is no single social scene - the school is pretty enormous as far as New England boarding schools go, and there’s a little of everything. That alone makes for a very, very open, accepting, diverse social feel on campus. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t cliques. For example, day students, especially in the lower grades, are known to clump together (possibly because the boarding experience is so different from the day experience) but that is merely the trend, not the rule.</p>
<p>Other than that, though, it’s hard to think of too many other types of totally homogeneous cliques. Yeah, the lax bros hang out as do the rowers, but those aren’t their only groups. What defines the social experience here at Andover is that it’s more common to identify with three or four different social groups than it is to identify with just one or two, and normally, the groups are very diverse in terms of just about everything. So no, Andover is not cliquey, but it’s unrealistic to assume that you’ll never encounter a few groups that you simply can’t break into.</p>
<p>In terms of social events, there are plenty. Every Thursday, the SAB (Student Activities Board, run ENTIRELY BY STUDENTS) sends out The Weekender, a publication that highlights on-campus activities scheduled for the following weekend. There’s always a ton going on - we have a dance just about every weekend, movies are often shown in the Den or Kemper, and there are tons of musical and dramatic performances too. If those don’t tickle your fancy, you can always get together with friends and get day excuses to go off campus and go into Boston. The train station is within walking distance of campus and tickets to Boston’s North Station cost $6.</p>
<p>I’ll link you to some copies of the weekender - I’ve chosen these two because I DJ’d both the Dubstep Dance and the iRave =D</p>
<p>files.me.com/thurstonsmalley/19sw2i</p>
<p>files.me.com/thurstonsmalley/4272zp</p>
<p>In terms of parties… Nah, there aren’t really any “parties” unless a day student feels like being rebellious and taking over the house when his or her parents are gone. And that’s rare.</p>
<p>Elitism… Eh, you can find it, but it’s not incredibly widespread. In fact, most people really look down on elitist attitudes here. Yeah, people often talk **** about Andover High School, but it’s never for stuff like money. Over 44% of students here are on financial aid, and a total of 12% of the student body pays no tuition. There’s no place here for snobbery, and kids know that. I’m one of those full-aid students, and I’ve never felt at a disadvantage or singled out because I have no money. The Office of Financial Aid buys my sports equipment and winter clothing and pays for me to go on school trips like last year’s choral tour of Canada (the financial aid people are AWESOME) and I never feel like people look at me any differently from the guy whose dad co-founded MTV or the guy whose sister is Olivia Wilde of House.</p>